Packets of the aforementioned type are, for example disclosed in WO 01/1599. In particular, WO 01/1599 discloses a lateral-opening, rigid, hinged-lid cigarette packet comprising a case having two minor lateral walls and two major lateral walls, which are wider than the two minor lateral walls, and a top wall. The case in turn comprises a cup-shaped container with a top opening, a collar projecting partly from said cup-shaped container through said top opening, and a lid, which incorporates at least part of the top wall and is hinged to said cup-shaped container along a lateral hinge and movable about said hinge to and from a closed position closing said top opening. The lateral hinge is located on the top wall and is perpendicular to the major lateral walls.
In known lateral-opening, rigid, hinged-lid packets of the above type, the hinge connecting the lid to the cup-shaped container is normally fairly short. This is inevitable in lateral-opening packets, and seriously impairs the shape stability of the packet, which, with use, tends to deform, so that the lid fails to close the cup-shaped container properly.